FROM LAUNDRY TO LAUDABLE: Searching for more space for her growing family, Leah Edmonds found what she needed in her laundry closet.

A small space that once held a washer and dryer now serves as a multipurpose nook with cabinets and counter tops. Besides providing extra space for kitchen essentials, the made-over butler's pantry is a great spot for sorting school work, storing bills and charging electronics.

Leah Edmonds went to high school on the north shore, and after she married Tom in 2006, they bought a 1,675-square-foot condominium in the Old Mandeville port area. "We were pregnant with our first child when we moved into the port," Leah Edmonds said. "We have four children now, ages 6 months to 6 years old."

The condo is an ongoing project, and Edmonds says both her husband and his father, Tom Sr., do most of the work, while she does most of the directing. Working with the original two-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath layout, they converted the upstairs loft/living area into a bedroom for their daughter, with a custom-built loft-style bed. They also, over the years, have repainted the entire condo, replaced the carpet with wood floors and remodeled the kitchen.

WASH AND WHERE: In the butler pantry project, the first task was moving the washer and dryer elsewhere. They found a new home for the appliances in the garage, but it was a major endeavor, involving rerouting all the plumbing. In the space left behind, the wall needed to be furred down in preparation for installing the cabinets and back wall paneling.

PERSONAL SPACE

THE HOME: A 1,675-square-foot condominium in the Old Mandeville port area

THE OWNERS: Leah and Tom Edmonds

THE SPACE: A laundry closet made over into a kitchen pantry

WHY THEY LOVE IT: 'I love having all of my large pots and pans tucked away,' Leah Edmonds says.

Another obstacle was finding the time to paint. "Painting is so hard, because with little ones running around, you need to block off the area," Edmonds said. "And with the tight living quarters, blocking off is never fun."

Edmonds' inspiration came from perusing photos of luxury pantries on Pinterest. Because they were working on a fixed budget, the couple used stock cabinets to keep the cost down. They brought a door from a kitchen cabinet to a paint store to match the paint color, then dressed up the space with glass knobs and a glass-beaded light fixture from a big-box discount store.

"I needed the storage so bad," Edmonds said. "I love having all of my large pots and pans tucked away instead of on top of my refrigerator."

GOOD WOOD: The back wall of the pantry is covered in antique heart of pine, which adds a nice flair to this extended part of the kitchen. Owners of an architectural millwork manufacturing business in Covington, Period Millworks The Woodwright Shop, the couple used leftover pieces of wood from a custom flooring job.

"The pine is really unique in grain quality," Edmonds said. "This particular load of beams came from Massachusetts." The business buys wood from all over, she said, looking especially for first-growth large beams. "Most heart pine comes from old textile mills that are being demolished," she said.

With the help of a carpenter friend, Richard Manders, it took one full day to rework the plumbing and install the cabinets. It then took a second full day to paint and to install the heart of pine.

Including the hardware and lighting installation, the couple estimates the 2 1/2-day effort came in at under $1,000.

"Since moving is not an option yet, I like to pretend that we are in a big city where square footage is astronomical," Edmonds said. "If we lived in New York, we would have to make the most of the space we have, so why not here?

"It helps me to think outside of the box when trying to store everything for our family."